From Time to Time
by Paris in October
Summary: It's a bad idea to leave your Time-Turner unattended... Especially if there's a two-year-old in the same room. Christmas, Severus Snape and a toddler put together can mean only one thing: fun! R&R, please.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! Here's my new story, written for "A Baby is Found" challenge at HPFC forum. Enjoy! :) And just to let you know - the "past" part takes place a year before Harry and Ron started Hogwarts.**

**DISCLAIMER: Oh, how I wish I owned Harry Potter... But unfortunately I don't.**

* * *

><p>"I'm glad you want to teach in Hogwarts, Percy, but why have you rejected the Minister's offer?"<p>

Professor McGonagall and Percy Weasley were sitting in the Headmistress' office. Last rays of sun were coming through the open window, lightening McGonagall's face.

Percy studied her carefully. She was now much calmer than a few years ago, when she had had to clean the mess that was left after the war. She had never given up, or shown weakness, but Percy knew it had cost her a lot. Back then, she had looked a hundred years older.

Now Minerva McGonagall was a great Headmistress, loved by all Hogwarts students, always willing to help them. And she was smiling more than ever.

Percy wiped off his glasses. "Well, the Minister's offer was very tempting - being a member of Wizengamot is really prestigious - but it would mean no time for my family. Audra wants to go back to her work, and that would be impossible if I accepted the offer."

"Dada! Look!"

They both turned to a little red-haired girl, standing at the window. She was pointing at a flying owl with so much excitement that McGonagall couldn't help laughing.

"It's an owl, darling," said Percy patiently. "Owl. Say 'owl'."

"Oww," repeated the girl.

"Not bad," McGonagall smiled. "I'm so glad you took Molly with you, Percy. She is so sweet."

Percy thought that McGonagall who had taught him would've never call anything - or anyone - sweet. Amazing how people change.

"Oh yes, she can be nice when she wants. But the problem is, she usually doesn't."

"Oww! Dada, oww!" Molly said again.

"Yes, honey, I see. Play for a while and don't disturb us."

"Oww! Molly wants oww!"

"You have one, remember? Now, why don't you sit and read your favourite book?" He took out 'Cinderella' and handed it to Molly. The girl immediately sat on the floor and started watching the pictures.

"I haven't heard of that story," said McGonagall with surprise.

"It's a Muggle fairytale. Dad's gift." Percy rolled his eyes. "But Molly loved it, and there's some magic in it, so we can live with it. Now, back to your question... I really need more time for Molly. I had to take her here, because Audra is starting her job today. As you see, I'm a nanny now. And I really can't imagine Molly yelling 'oww!' in the court."

"That would be a nice change for all of them."

Percy smiled. "I didn't dare check. We would like to move to Hogsmeade, and I could come here every day. We'll arrange it somehow."

"You can take Molly with you from time to time. Now that I don't teach, I don't have much to do, so she can play here."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, I'd be happy to help."

"That would be great, Professor."

"Dada! Look!" Molly apparently finished her book and wanted to attract their attention.

"Not now, honey," Percy didn't even turned his head. "Daddy is talking."

"Look at Molly! Look!" repeated the girl and stamped her foot.

"Okay, Molly. What's up?" Percy finally stood up and walked towards his daughter... Or rather towards the place she had been standing only seconds earlier. Now Molly disappeared.

"Molly? Where are you? Do you want to play hide and seek?" Percy knelt on the floor in front of the big cabinet. "May I?" he asked McGonagall before opening it.

"Of course."

Percy opened the cabinet, but, to his surprise, Molly wasn't inside. "Molly, it's not funny. Really, come out! I have no time for that."

"Where could she hide? I swear, she was standing right here... Oh, no. No." McGonagall covered her mouth.

"Professor? What's wrong?" Percy gave her an anxious look.

"My... My Time-Turner..." She pointed at the empty shelf. "It's gone."

"For Merlin's sake, it's impossible! She couldn't use it," Percy shook his head, although he already knew it was the only explanation. "What am I supposed to do now? Audra will kill me!"

"Oh, be a man," McGonagall reproached him. "We have no time to cry, we must act."

"But how? What can we do? She has no idea which day she started from! We'll never bring her back!"

"It doesn't depend on us. It's all up to the people who find her. They have to find out what happened and who she is, determine the exact time she comes from-"

"You know it's impossible!" Percy was still kneeling at the floor, with the most desperate face McGonagall could imagine. "There _must be_ another way, we have to find it!"

At that moment the golden clock standing on McGonagall's desk disappeared.

"What the heck does _that_ mean?" Percy looked at her with surprise.

"Well, it probably means that your daughter just damaged this clock in the past. It also means that we have to hurry up before she sets the whole school in fire."

* * *

><p>"Thank you, Severus, I think that's all for now-"<p>

"Look at me!"

Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape immediately turned their heads. For one full minute they watched a red-haired girl standing in front of them.

"Dumbledore," Snape eventually dared ask. "What is a toddler doing in your office?"

"I have no idea," Dumbledore replied cheerfully and stood up. "Hello," he smiled to the girl. "What's your name?"

Snape thought that he would ask a totally different question. Like, 'How, for Merlin's sake, did you get there?'. Probably the one Dumbledore chose was the only one the girl could answer, though.

"Molly!" she smiled, showing her toothless gums. "I Molly."

"And I'm Albus. Like 'bus', only with 'Al' at the beginning."

"Bus!" repeated the girl and giggled. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

"You know, Dumbledore, this conversation is getting a bit awkward," said Snape, frowning.

Suddenly Dumbledore noticed the golden hourglass in Molly's hands. "What is this? Is it a... Time-Turner?"

"Turner!" nodded Molly and showed it to him.

"Interesting..." Dumbledore turned the hourglass in his hands and suddenly smiled. "So now we know what happened!"

"Do we?" During the whole conversation Snape hadn't smiled even once.

"Of course! Our little guest comes from the future. She managed to use the Time-Turner somehow, and we have to send her back."

"Back to where? Or rather when?"

"I don't know yet, but it won't be difficult to find out. Just look at her."

Molly was now running around the office with a heavy golden clock in hands.

"I'd say that zoo will be appropriate."

Suddenly the clock slipped from her hands and smashed on the floor. Molly looked up at Dumbledore and started crying.

"I have never liked that clock," said the headmaster cheerfully. "There's no need to worry."

Molly clutched onto him, sobbing quietly.

"Isn't it obvious? Red-haired girl, called Molly, with the amount of energy similar to Fred and George..."

"Are you trying to say she's a daughter of one of them?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe Bill's or Percy's... Or even Weasley's youngest son's, what was his name? Ah yes, Ronald. But certainly she's Molly Weasley's granddaughter."

"So now that we established that crucial fact, can we send her to the Weasleys?"

"Oh, it's not that easy, Severus. We still don't know how to send her back. I need some time to figure it out."

"I can assure you that thinking is much easier without a two-year-old running around," answered Snape, watching Molly wandering around the office. She was now pulling Fawkes' tail, and the poor bird was squeaking pitifully.

"You're absolutely right. And I think that Fawkes' feathers wouldn't survive that. But there's one little problem - the Weasleys are spending Christmas in Romania, with Charlie. We can't send Molly there."

"So what are you going to do with her?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe... maybe you could take care of her?" said Dumbledore with a twinkle is his eye.

"Me? Dumbledore, are you mad? What am I supposed to do with a toddler?"

"Oh, you know... Things you usually do with toddlers. Play with her, tell her a goodnight story, feed her, teach her how to say your name..."

"You. Must. Be. Kidding." Snape would never dare yell at Dumbledore, but his voice was shaky. "I'm a Potions master, not a nanny."

"Oh, come on, Severus. It's Christmas time. Everyone should be happy."

"I was very happy until now."

"Severus, please..."

"Pwease!" They both turned to Molly, who was now holding the edge of Snape's robe. She apparently had no idea what they were talking about, but wanted to catch their attention.

"See? Molly agrees," Dumbledore smiled widely.

Snape freed his robe from Molly's hands. "I don't know how to look after kids."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be great. Molly," he knelt down. "Will you go with uncle Severus now?"

"Molly go!" The girl took Snape's hand and looked up at him. Snape didn't smile.

"Cheer up a bit, Severus. I'm sure it will be fun."

"Fun!" agreed Molly and clapped her hands.

Dumbledore glanced at the clock. "Oh dear, it's really late. You'd better go."

"Molly go!" repeated the girl and pulled Snape towards the door. "Bye bye, Bus!"

Dumbledore waved to her. He waited until the door closed behind the two and then burst out laughing.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so this is the first chapter ;) Hope you liked it! And review, pwease :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, chapter two is up! Thanks for reading the previous one, I hope you liked it :)**

* * *

><p>Percy was pacing up and down the office, from the wall to the window and then back to the wall, desperately trying to think of any solution. Professor McGonagall was doing the same thing too, but in the opposite direction: window-wall-window.<p>

"For Merlin's sake, stop pacing!" she said after fifteen minutes. "I can't think."

Percy gave her a surprised look, but sat down. "It's hopeless, we can't do anything. I guess we have to report it to the Ministry, maybe they will know what to do."

"I'm not giving up. Dumbledore would never do that," she answered harshly.

"So what are you going to do? She might be as well drinking tea with Rowena Ravenclaw at the moment! Or rather spilling it all over her dress," he added after a short pause.

"It's not that bad. Remember about that clock she smashed – Dumbledore got it from Nicholas Flamel-"

Percy looked at her with disbelief. "But Flamel died, like, fifteen years ago! And he was around five hundred then!" He hid his face in his hands.

"Dumbledore was much younger."

"Oh, great. So we have to check only... one hundred years! What is, by the way, a useless information, because we still don't know how to bring Molly back!"

McGonagall sighed. "Well, I think that the only option is to... go back to the past, find Molly and take her back."

Percy stared at her. "And you really think you will come across Molly somewhere? For Merlin's sake, it's one hundred years! How do you want to do that? Go back to yesterday, then to the day before yesterday and so on?"

"It's our only chance. We have to give it a go."

"It's insane. _Insane_."

"Any better ideas?" asked McGonagall angrily and opened one of the drawers in her desk. She took out another Time-Turner and studied it carefully for a while.

"Um, maybe it's not an appropriate question, but _why on Earth you don't keep all your Time-Turners in a safe place?_"

"Don't yell at me, it's not helping," answered McGonagall, but sent Percy a guilty look. "Actually, I thought the one Molly took wasn't working."

"Oh, even better! So you let a two-year-old use a broken down Time-Turner? _Now_ we will never find her."

McGonagall stood up. "Stay here and yell as much as you want. I'm going to visit the past."

Before Percy could react, she turned the golden hourglass and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Molly curiously watched Snape preparing the bed for her. She was sitting in his armchair, clutching her book in her hands. She was unusually silent, but Snape suspected it was just showing off. 'I am a little angel, don't you love me?'. Something like that.<p>

Snape finished and turned to the girl. "Okay, kid," he said, pointing at the sofa. "Time to sleep."

Molly winced. "No kid! Molly!"

"Fine. Go to sleep... Molly."

The girl grinned and obediently lay down on the sofa. She curled under the sheets and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight," said Snape and sat behind his desk. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad...

"Story."

Snape glanced at the girl. She was sitting straight, looking at him innocently. "Story," she repeated, pointing at her book.

"No."

No way, he wasn't going to read her a stupid fairytale. Especially the Muggle one.

Molly's lips twitched dangerously. "Pwease."

"No."

"Don't like you!"

"Still no, sorry."

"Storyyy!" she yelled.

Snape winced and stood up. That kid would wake the whole castle!

"Fine, I'll read you that stupid book. Will you shut up then?"

Molly smiled widely. "Story."

Snape sighed and took the book. He sat next to Molly and started reading. He felt... weird.

After a few minutes the girl shut the book. "No story!" she announced.

"Will you sleep now?"

"I want my teddy!"

Snape cursed under his breath. "I don't have your teddy. Sleep."

"Teddy! Molly wants teddy!"

"And I want some peace and quiet. Close your eyes and sleep."

"I want my teddy..."

"Listen." He knelt down to face the girl before she could start yelling again. "I don't have your teddy. It's at home and I can't fetch it now. Do you understand?"

She had tears in her eyes, but nodded.

"Great. And now it's really time to sleep. Goodnight."

"Night," she murmured and buried her face in the pillow.

Snape sighed with relief and stood up. It wasn't as bad as he expected. It was much worse.

"Hey!" Molly suddenly opened her eyes. "I Molly. And you?" she asked the most important question of the day.

Snape was caught off guard. He hesitated for the moment. 'Severus' would be too long for a two-year-old, and he couldn't imagine her calling him 'Sev'. No, that was definitely out of question. "Call me Snape."

"Snake?" Her eyes widened.

"Not snake. _Snape_."

"Snape," she repeated and giggled. "Snape."

"Great. Can you now _please_ go to sleep?"

* * *

><p>McGonagall took a deep breath and looked around. She was still in the headmaster's office, but according to her calculations, it was September 1976. Severus Snape's and Albus Dumbledore's portraits weren't there, but the <em>real <em>Dumbledore was staring at her with surprise.

"Minerva! I haven't heard you entering."

McGonagall's heart jumped. It was so great to hear his voice again, after all those hard years, years of war and then rebuilding the world! During countless sleepless nights she had imagined herself talking to her dearest friend, the man who had helped her so many times, and wondered what would he do if he were alive. And now she was standing in front of him again, looking in his blue eyes, speechless for the first time in her life.

She quickly put herself together. First and foremost, she had to find Molly and maybe then she could talk to Dumbledore.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Albus." She raised the Time-Turner and showed it to him. "There's something wrong with it, I wasn't supposed to appear in your office. Especially without knocking."

Dumbledore smiled. "Oh yes, modern technology can be annoying sometimes. But it gives us so many new possibilities! Which year are you going to visit?"

At first she didn't understand. Modern technology? For Merlin's sake, Time-Turners had been invented in... 1975. Oh, right.

"Well, I was thinking about my eleventh birthday," she lied quickly. "I'd like to see my face expression when I got the letter."

Oh dear, it was the most stupid thing she could come up with. She mentally slapped herself for a lack of imagination.

Thankfully Dumbledore didn't seem to be surprised with her ridiculous idea. "The most important moment for every wizard and every witch! I remember the day you arrived at Hogwarts. Oh yes, from the first minute I knew you'd be a great witch."

McGonagall smiled. "I was a thin, terrified kid, wearing an oversized robe. I really didn't look great."

"Believe me, Minerva, I could look deeper than that. You know, you can go back to that day as well. You'll see what I mean."

"I will. But now excuse me, I really have to run."

"Of course, of course. You're always working so hard. If you ask me, I really think you need vacation." He gave her a caring look. "You don't look very good today. Stop working for a while and find some time for yourself."

"It's not that easy." McGonagall laughed. "There are so many things to do..." She left the office before Dumbledore could say anything else and sighed with relief. A few more seconds and he would probably find out what was going on.

McGonagall took a deep breath and walked down the corridor. To be honest, she had no idea how to check if Molly was there. Percy was right, it was hopeless.

She wandered around the castle for a few hours, trying not to bump into her younger self. Since Time-Turners were such a new invention, McGonagall wasn't really sure how she would react.

When it got dark, she finally decided to give up. She had talked to some students, and even Filch, very carefully, of course. Unfortunately, no one had seen a two-year-old girl running around. The conclusion could be only one: Molly wasn't there.

McGonagall took out her Time-Turner, made sure nobody could see her and murmured the coming-back spell.

When she entered her present office, Percy jumped. "Did you find her?" he asked hysterically.

"No. But I will keep trying. And I've learned two things. First, I shouldn't use the Time-Turner in my office."

"Why?"

"Because I appeared in front of Albus Dumbledore! And while it was a priceless experience to see him again, he was rather surprised to see me."

"And the second thing?"

"The second thing is, _I'm old_. Which means, I have to be careful about who I talk to. Filch would never, ever find out I came from the future, but Albus would start suspecting something. He told me I look tired and should go on vacation. I'm afraid that even the best vacation in the world won't help my face." She smiled bitterly. "Okay, let's go outside and I'll try once again."

They left McGonagall's office and went down the stairs. Suddenly the huge portrait of Godric Gryffindor, hanging on the wall in front of them, disappeared.

"Oh no, what now?" groaned Percy. "Did Molly just killed Gryffindor?"

"Thankfully, it's impossible. I told you she is not that far away... ago. She probably damaged the painting. Which is actually some good news, because I placed it here... The year you started Hogwarts."

"Oh, great. But you know what? It's still impossible to find her!"

"Okay, so what do you suggest? If you want, I can send an owl to the Ministry, explaining what happened and ask them for help. But then you'll have to tell Audra."

"It's unfair," said Percy, crossing his arms. "You know I can't."

"Which means my idea is the only one we have." McGonagall opened the door to an empty classroom and went in. With a sigh, Percy followed her.

"Do you have another Time-Turner? I will try to look for her in a different year."

McGonagall shook her head. "It's not a good idea. I may look older, but nobody would suspect anything. If you met any of your friends, brothers - or even yourself - situation could get out of control. And we don't need any more problems, do we? Just stay here, and keep your fingers crossed."

* * *

><p>Obviously, Molly was a star of the day. When Snape entered the Great Hall holding her hand, everybody started to whisper, staring at them. Thankfully, there weren't many students, as most of them had gone home for Christmas already.<p>

Molly looked around, overwhelmed with the size of the hall. She raised her head and stared at the enchanted ceiling. "Sky!" she said, astonished. When he didn't react, she shook his hand. "Snape, sky!" And to make sure he noticed, she pointed it with her little finger.

Snape bit his lip. He couldn't smile, he couldn't smile... "Yes, I've seen it before," he said, trying to hide a hint of laughter in his voice. "Can we just sit and eat breakfast now?"

"Eat!" Molly ran through the hall, looking curiously at students and teachers. Snape sighed and followed her. Most probably, his 'daughter' would be a subject of gossips of the entire school. He really didn't want to know what nasty poem Peeves would come up with.

Molly finally stopped in front of the staff table and looked up at Dumbledore. "Bus!" she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, my dear. Did you sleep well?" asked the headmaster casually.

Snape rolled his eyes. "Really, Dumbledore, she's two. Do you expect her to answer?" he asked, sitting at his usual place.

"I just wanted to be polite." Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders. "Besides-"

"Molly hungry!" The girl interrupted him and climbed onto Snape's knees.

All the students in the hall held their breaths. It was highly probable that Snape would just kick Molly off, yell at her or give her a detention. But, surprisely, none of the above happened. He stared at her for a while, but said nothing. Finally he took his fork. "What will you eat?" he asked.

Even without looking at them, Snape knew there was an expression of pure shock on every face. He smirked. Maybe that whole story would be more interesting than he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews anyone? Pretty please! Come on, people, I need some motivation :) Let me know what you think!<strong>


End file.
